Exegesis and Eisegesis

Royal Priesthood, Holy Nation                                        Acts 1:20

Exegesis and Eisegesis

by Robert T. Cooper

Exegesis: good! Eisegesis: bad! Say, what?

Acts 1:20 NIV

²⁰“For,” said Peter, “it is written in the book of Psalms,

“‘May his place of be deserted;
let there be no one to dwell in it,’

and,

“‘May another take his place of leadership.’

Acts 1:20 NIV 

In the creation of the event that became part of Holy Scripture, and in the recording of that Scripture, the Holy Spirit inspired people to say and to write in ways that are not permissible to us as mere mortals. This verse gives a great example.

Judas had committed suicide. During the days between the Ascension and Pentecost, the Holy Spirit led the Apostles to understand that Judas needed to be replaced as an Apostle. Peter gave voice to that understanding.

In giving voice to that understanding, Peter cited two verses from the Psalms. However, what Peter did with those two verses was something we must not do. Neither of the verses primarily mean what Peter said they meant. It was only under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit that Peter could understand and say that God fully intended a second meaning, the meaning that Judas’ position as an Apostle should be filled with a replacement.

The first verse Peter used was from Psalm 69:25. This Psalm had some Messianic implications in verses 4 and 9. Even verse 21 says “They put gall in my food/and gave me vinegar for my thirst,” something that causes the Christian believer to immediately think of Christ’s crucifixion. But as David continues the psalm, he is praying about his feelings regarding his enemies, plural. He prays for them to have physical and spiritual consequences to their violent opposition to David.

In fact, in the original, Psalm 69:25 uses plural pronouns, not the singular pronouns Peter uses. It is only because the first part of the verse talks about their place being deserted that the Spirit causes Peter to see a reference to the apostolic vacancy caused by Judas’ demise.

The second verse Peter used was from Psalm 109:8. David is again praying for divine retribution against his enemy, singular this time. David prays for this enemy to have an evil man to oppose the enemy. David prays for his enemy to be put on trial and found guilty. Verse 8 begins, “May his days be few,” something that was certainly true of Judas. The latter part of the verse refers to another person taking this enemy’s place of leadership. Now David obviously had a particular enemy in mind when he wrote this Psalm and certainly not Judas. However, the Spirit again causes Peter to see a reference to the need to fill the apostolic vacancy caused by Judas’ death.

Now, we are all curious about biblical prophecy and the application of Scripture to events today. However, one has to wonder at those who find in the Bible a prophecy about every minute news event that occurs. It is quite probable that those people are reading things into Scripture, that they are eisegeting. Remember, eisegesis: bad!

It is never correct to read something into Scripture.

[Before I quit, let me ask you, humble readers, to carefully consider what I write in this blog. If I should ever read into Scripture something that isn’t there, please send me a private e-mail to admonish me and help me see that I have done so. That’s the Berean thing to do.]

Have you ever known of a situation in which someone read something into Scripture that isn’t there? Have you ever done so? I look forward to your comments.

Two or More Ways of Seeing Something

Royal Priesthood, Holy Nation                                        Acts 1:18

Two or More Ways of Seeing Something

by Robert T. Cooper

I was recently looking at a book that included the optical illusion involving a black and white line drawing that can be seen as a young woman if looked at one way or can be seen as an older woman if looked at another way. Most people have seen similar optical illusions. One simply has to change one’s focus and the way in which one organizes what is being seen.

It is something like a policeman getting the stories of several eyewitnesses. No two stories will totally match, but all will contribute to the truth of what really happened. It can even be the same if a single person tells more than once something that happened. The details will vary, but it is possible to harmonize the stories.

There is a story of a teacher who had four students who missed a test. The four insisted they had been headed to the test on time, but their car had a flat tire. Something about the situation made the teacher suspicious, but the teacher agreed to give them all a one-question make-up exam. The teacher had them sit in the four corners of the room. Then the teacher told them what the one question on the make-up would be: “Which tire was it?”

In Acts 1:18, it is reported that Judas used the 30 pieces of silver to purchase a field. While at that field, he fell headlong, his body burst open, and his intestines spilled out. That is one graphic and memorable image. But the Gospels report that Judas threw the money back to the priests and that it was the priests who bought the field. Then the Gospels say that Judas went out and hung himself. So just who bought the field? Just how did Judas die?

Is it possible to harmonize the two accounts? When the priests bought the field, they might have done so in Judas’ name so that the legal records showed that it was Judas who bought it. We don’t know that is how it was, but it is a plausible explanation. But harmonizing the rest of it takes a lot more imagination. One suggestion is that Judas was running with the rope around his neck (picture the crazed Judas of The Passion of the Christ) when he tripped. As he fell, the rope caught on something so that he hung himself. But rather than being suspended in the air, his falling body hit a jagged bit of ground that caused his body to burst open and his intestines to spill out. Gruesome, huh? Again, we don’t know that is how it was, and it is a little less plausible than the purchase of the field, but it might have been that way.

So what is the point of all this? Different people might see certain things in more than one way. Don’t you want people to believe you and be gracious to you when you say what you understand and they don’t understand it your way? We too should be gracious when others say things that we genuinely believe not to be so. The other person may not be a liar and may not be crazy. The other person might not even be mistaken.

If we truly love one another, we will think the best of one another and be gracious to one another.

What do you relate to in this blog post? Can you share a story of a time you and someone else saw something different ways?

Does Prophecy Matter or Not?

Royal Priesthood, Holy Nation                                        Acts 1:16

Does Prophecy Matter or Not?

by Robert T. Cooper

Some people are fascinated by prophecy and can’t study it enough. Others don’t really care all that much, studying it when they come across it in their regular Bible study, but otherwise intent on simply living for Jesus today. These latter believers wonder what it really matters.

In Acts 1:16, God through Peter reminds us that all Scripture was spoken by the Holy Spirit through the various human biblical writers. If God the Holy Spirit revealed and inspired these things, perhaps we ought to pay some attention to it.

Moreover, God through Peter reminds us that all Scripture has been or will be fulfilled. He intended to tell us before the fact that which He had planned. Since God wants us to know these things, perhaps we ought to pay some attention to it. I mean, do you want to stand before the Lord at the Judgment and have to explain why you dismissed a portion of His Word?

Then in Timothy we are reminded that all Scripture is profitable “for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness”. That includes the genealogies, the Mosaic laws, and prophecy. No matter which passage it is, we can benefit from that passage in at least one of those four ways.

In the comments section, let us know whether you are a person who is fascinated by prophecy or whether you are one wonders what it really matters to your living for Jesus today.